Local college students build futuristic race cars

WCAX.com

May 3, 2013

By Steve Bottari

Their test track is the campus of the University of Vermont. Their car – built by students from scratch. The UVM race team isn't part of any class. Its members – all engineering students – say they put in the 60-hour weeks for the hands-on experience.

"The coolest part is the fact that we built it all and the fact that it handles like nothing I've ever driven," said Marc Soldini of UVM. "This thing is really fast. It's the fastest thing I've ever driven."

And for the first year, two teams' cars are fully electric. UVM's has a 144-kilowatt electric motor, which is equivalent to 192P horsepower.

"Tesla already has there electric cars out. A bunch of electric motorcycles are coming out. So, we think this car is kind of bridging the gap between these two and really is the future of it – of racing," said Chris Bilger of Dartmouth.

Despite how fast these kids say their electric race cars go, they don't expect to see them here in the NASCAR pits anytime soon.